Tag: Facebook Fans

There has always been a time in everyone’s life which makes you think, ‘If only time machines were invented’. The moment when your costly phone fell down, shattering to pieces or when you accidently sent an unwanted message to your teacher. Between these moments you simply stand by wishing there was some way to turn time around. The situation is more pronounced in the world of media and communication where precision means business. A simple misprint or Typo in your daily newspaper can turn Obama into Osama! Printing an apology or retraction in situations as these is inevitable. Even in the world of digital media such situations were considered to be very grave. A wrong news flash or e-mailer is considered detrimental for the rapport of the organization.

With Facebook slowly turning out to be an important factor in the world of media, commanding a reach which surpasses that of any other medium the risk of damage by any error would be huge. However thanks to its features of editing and scheduling posts, the risk has been minimized to a great extent. Facebook can also be named as the new media time machine. Although organizations still need to be careful about what they share or update, the risk of mistake going viral is greatly diminished by its editing features. Facebook allows users to edit posts they have already made thus enabling them to correct errors. Any mistake corrected within few minutes of being posted is less likely to be viewed by a lot of people. In addition to this, the time on the comment is changed to correspond to most recent edit. However a friend or fan that originally received a notification about the post will not receive another notification about the edit.

Another unique feature of Facebook which has helped users master time is ‘Scheduling’. This allows users to schedule posts at a later date and time. Now you don’t need to log in from your vacation or during weekend to post a news or update. Just schedule all your posts in advance and forget about it. It also allows users to backdate a post.

Facebook is an important platform for brand management for companies. It gives them access to large number of viewers and great flexibility in terms of reach and audience. So it can prove detrimental for image of the brand if mistakes and errors are not taken care of before they go viral. These features of Facebook provide them breathing space to a certain extent giving them a certain level of control over actions of users.

With the world of social media becoming more complicated, what features are in store for us and how these changes are going to affect and revolutionize communication is yet to be speculated.

Ever since cameras were discovered, photos and photography has always caught people’s fancy. Whether it is to face the camera and pose for photos or stay behind them and make the magic happen, everyone is amazed with photography!

When facebook came along a few years ago, photography was already a big part of everyone’s life. People loved the idea of capturing their life with the help of a simple camera and store it for years to come.

With the birth of this social media giant, people could not have been happier. They started sharing the most important parts of their lives, all the memories and the special moments with their friends and family via this platform. It was definitely the easiest and fastest way for people to connect.

Ofcourse, there were several picture sharing sites such as Flickr, Shutterfly, Picassa that already existed and it was the best known way to share these pictures. But with everyone soon being on facebook, it was just easier and more convenient for people to share pictures here. And it is no surprise that these picture sharing sites are faced with a huge battle ahead of them!

Sharing pictures on Facebook soon became a way of life! Everyone wanted their friends and family to be a part of their life. They wanted to share those special moments of their life with their loved ones. And owing to the features available on Facebook, these pictures got ‘likes’ and ‘comments’.

So, when a person published a picture on Facebook, they wanted to make sure they get the most ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ from all their friends. Every picture people clicked went up on Facebook. Each picture more attractive than the previous.

Facebook Timeline has several features and options. Every profile has a Profile Picture and a Cover Photo. So it does not come as a surprise that people tried to put up the most attractive, one-of-a-kind picture to be appreciated by everyone!

Every single moment of life goes up on their wall. Be it as simple as just going out for a walk or dining at the new restaurant that just opened in town. All the family trips, the fun you have in the college canteen after bunking a class, all the nights you go out with your friends and not to mention few of the most important moments in life – proposing to the love of your life and the magical moment when you marry them, the very first picture of your child, and several others.

It has come to a stage where people do not take pictures for the same reasons as earlier. They are not just taken for the sake of capturing the beautiful moments of life… It is not taken only as a memory. It is taken to be shown off on Facebook! The thought that quickly runs through your mind after a taking a picture is – is this picture good enough to be my new profile picture?!

Being active on social media sites is the top priority for several brands at present. It is not the most important way to market a brand or products. It is probably the best way to reach out to customers.

And when a brand is on a social media site like facebook, the first thing they do is develop a fan base for their page. Next, to make full use of their presence, brands engage with customers on a daily basis.

Engaging with your fan base can be very tricky. You need to be careful about what you do and what you say. Even the language you use is important. You need to be at the top of your game when it comes to engaging with your customers.

Once you start engaging with your fan base or customers on a daily basis, you need to ensure you give them something for them to look forward to. You need to entertain them and at the same time educate them well about your brand and products.

Engagement is usually done on a daily basis and it is a good idea to put up 2-3 posts every day. You also need to constantly monitor the posts you have put up and attend to the comments or queries your audience has.

Weekdays or weekends, your posts should be up on the page. You cannot afford to take a day off…especially during the weekends.

But let’s face it…everyone needs a day off!

Especially for such situations, you have an option of scheduling your posts. You have several sites/tools which help you schedule posts with the content of your choice and for the time or day of your choice. Your content will be automatically posted on your page.

But with all these tools, the major drawback was the number of posts that could be scheduled.

If you are going out on a vacation and do not want your page to suffer because of it or if the timing of your posts is not very social-friendly, you need to have an option to schedule them. And this cannot be an everyday activity in times like this.

Now with the new feature on Facebook, which gives you an option of scheduling posts, your life can be a lot easier.

There is no cap on the number of posts you can schedule for your page. You can schedule posts for the next couple of days or months or even for the year to come.

If you want to schedule a post for the next month, it is not a must that you have to schedule all posts up until that particular day or month. You can schedule posts only on the days of your choice.

With this new feature on Facebook, you also have an option to post on the days already passed by. You can put up posts for the previous couple of days or even the past year.

Engaging fans and posting for your page on Facebook has never been this simple!

Facebook now probably has more than a million brands present on it. The reason behind a brands existence on Facebook is purely for marketing purposes. They like to connect with people on a more personal level and get to know what works and what doesn’t with the audience. Not to forget, they are there to prove their credibility!

When a brand exists on facebook, they will make the most of their existence by creating a fan base of audience related to their brand and also engage them on a daily basis. The more the number of fans and the more they engage with fans, the more virality and credibility the brand builds.

So when it comes to liking a brand, how do you decide? How do you know you want to like the brand page or not? Is it because you like a single product they sell? Is it because all your friends like it? Or is it simply because you like the name of the brand?

Before liking a brands’ page on Facebook, you need to be sure you like the page for all the right reasons!

Never like a page because you like a single product that the brand has come with. Also, never go with what the ‘trend’ is! You can be faithful to a brand, but it does not mean you have to like their page on facebook as well!

Before liking a page, do some basic research:

– Go through the details of the brand page. See the kind of products the brand has. Ensure the products the brand comes up with are of use to you and you can see yourself using them at some point or the other.

– Review the page and see how they engage with their audience. How frequently they post on the page, the kind of posts they put up and if it is relevant to you or not. It should not be such that they put up 5-6 posts a day and your ‘wall’ looks spammed by their posts!

– Also see the tabs/applications and the contests the brand comes up with. It should be exciting contests, the kinds that you would love to take part in!

When you like a page on facebook, it should be of real interest to you. It should have interesting posts and comments that keep you glued to the brand. It should not be such that, seeing the page and the kind of engagement they conduct, you finally lose interest in the products and the brand itself!

Brands exist on Facebook to be able to communicate and create a rapport with their customers and connect with them on a personal level. And in order to achieve that, they indulge in engaging their fans on the brand page.

Having said that, what exactly is Page Engagement??
Engagement is any interacting which happens on the Facebook page and includes:
– Likes
– Comments
– Shares

In this day and age, there is no better way to reach out and engage with both present and potential consumers in social media than through an active Facebook Page!

Now, here are the best ways to assure high engagement on your Timeline?
• Cover Photo:
Your page’s Cover Photo appears right at the top of the Timeline. That is the first thing a user sees when they enter your page. Therefore, it is very important that you have a visually-attractive photo.

• Pinned Posts:
A Pinned post remains on top of your timeline for 7 days. So when you have an important message that you want to convey to your customers, ensure that you Pin it!

• Highlighted Posts:
Want a post to be highlighted and eye catchy? Simple…Highlight it on the page! This will ensure that the post and image appear prominently on the page by expanding to the width of your page.

• Ask Specific Questions:
On every post that goes on the page, ask questions that require short, crisp answers. This ensures higher engagement on the page.

• Post photos that provoke Comments, Likes & Shares:
The simplest way to get people to interact on your page is by posting interesting pictures. Pictures and Videos get the most number of posts and likes ever!

• Give people a chance to share their knowledge and expertise:
Being social requires you to being open to listening to others’ opinions. Give people an opportunity to voice their views and opinions on your page.

• Be authentic and be yourself:
Make sure you post about things that people relate to and not only about topics related to your industry/products.

• Post Often:
To ensure high engagement on the page, you need to be very active on the page. You need to post often enough to connect with the customers.

So, we’ve been listening to how Facebook is bad for children, here’s a different take on it. We think if used constructively Facebook can be more beneficial than destructive. Here’s why & what your kid can do on Facebook (For children above 13 of course, as FB doesn’t permit access to children below 13)

Teachers are now looking at the benefits of using Facebook in classrooms

1. They’ve been hearing about in school, and seeing you using it too, stopping them is pointless. You need to make sure that it’s not a forbidden fruit to them which tempts them from time to time!

2. Forward them links to creative and interesting pages that they could learn from

3. If they are into any form art, such as writing, sketching, music, painting or photography, ask them to share their piece of art on Facebook and see what others have to say.

19yr old has more than 50,000 fans!

4.Ask them to participate in online contest, this will give them a huge exposure compared to school competitions as online you have a bigger audience, tougher competition and they know exactly where they stand.

5. If your child is a shy kid then this platform works like a miracle where they get to chat, share opinions, without being very conscious compared to classroom where he the physical presence of 60 or more people make him nervous.

6. Kids staying in hostels or away from home can get lonely at times and this will be a great way to be in touch with everyone, make new friends and be more social.

7. Stopping them is like over protecting them which makes it suffocating for them. Let them be themselves and go discover!

8. Some schools are on Facebook and most of them will be active soon. Schools now have active discussions, reminders, interactive programs and groups for their students. In fact it’s a very good way to keep track of the everyday school activities.

9. You wouldn’t like it if your kid is techtarded, so give him the early advantage and for all you know he could be the next Zuckerberg!
10. It makes them happy! Really happy and isn’t that the most important thing?

So, you have been on Facebook for quite some time and even got a business page setup for your brand in one proud moment. You expected people to like your jokes, share your photos and comment on your posts, as they have been doing on your competitors Facebook page.

However, nothing seems to be working and the loneliness if starting to hurt your brand. Well, failure at community management is the most common mistake committed by brands. This hurts their chances to make any breakthrough in lead generation, client servicing, and becoming a brand that is social and connected.

Why this happens?

Lack of Objectives: Facebook is a great marketing platform or that’s what you heard from someone. However, don’t forget that the rules of marketing still uphold for the social network. Start by defining your social media objectives. What do you plan to do with your Facebook page and the SM identity in general? What are the end objectives? Thinking about these questions would help you define your branding and content strategy.

Push Strategy: Give your fans what they want and not what you are. Post what you core community is interested in and not just what you are good at. Bottom line is do not hard sell trying to make a traditional sales pitch. Be social and become part of the conversation!

Know your community: Make use of range of free analytic tools like Facebook Insights, SocialMention and Google Alerts to know where your community resides and what they are talking about. Start listening to their conversations on social networks, blogs, forums and jump in where ever you can without being too nosey.

Have a content strategy: Develop a social media calendar for your content strategy that could deliver high engagement levels i.e. where users willingly choose to embrace you brand. You can do that by developing Facebook apps, coupons, contests, videos, cartoons etc. Your fans or their friends will always trace back the links to your online identity getting you more traffic and viral engagement. Never abandon your Facebook page and always keep it updated.

Remember social networks like Facebook helps you embrace social i.e. relying on users recommendations and likes to give thumbs up to your products and services, so that even their friends become positively disposed towards your brand. Can you choose to ignore it?